School Marks 35 Years

Teachers, Staff, Administrators And Students From Ivy Drive School To Come Together To Recollect.

October 18, 2002|By LORETTA WALDMAN; Courant Staff Writer

BRISTOL — Bulldozers and other construction equipment still sat on the playground when Carole Zembko started teaching at Ivy Drive School. It was September 1967, and the new school had just opened, though work on the building wasn't quite complete.

``We managed to teach amid all the construction and noise,'' Zembko recalled Thursday.

The memory is one of many the fifth-grade teacher has recorded in a black notebook in preparation for the 35th anniversary of the elementary school. On Sunday, she and other longtime teachers, administrators and staff will gather for a reception in the school gym to share their recollections along with pictures and artifacts that include one of the school's original record players and film strip projectors.

Besides marking the anniversary of the school, the event pays tribute to veteran teachers such as Zembko, who plans to retire at the end of the school year, and Hugh Dill, the first principal of the school.

``I just thought 35 years is really a milestone, and wouldn't it be fun [to] bring him back to talk about what it was like,'' said RoseAnne Vojtek, principal of Ivy Drive.

Current and former students, staff and their families have all been invited to the celebration, which coincides with the school's sixth annual Run for the Ivy. The reception will include performances by the school chorus and band as well as planting a tree donated by the family of Lori Eschner, art teacher at Ivy Drive. Other guests include Tony Acampora, who preceded Vojtek as principal; Mayor Frank N. Nicastro Sr.; and school board Chairman Richard Saporito.

Though one of the newer elementary schools in the city, Ivy Drive has been around long enough to have a rich history. Ivy Drive, Mountain View School and Bristol Central High School all opened in 1967 and were built in response to a surge in residential development during the 1950s and '60s that caused school enrollment to swell.

The two elementary schools were dubbed Farmington Avenue North and Farmington Avenue South until the building committee overseeing the construction projects came up with permanent names, said John Smith, who was assistant to the superintendent for business at the time and supervized the projects. Committee members eventually decided to name them after the neighboring streets, fearing they might slight someone if the schools were named after people, said Smith, now senior vice president of operations at Bristol Hospital.

Lora Tracy, another veteran teacher who arrived at Ivy Drive in 1968, remembers when the school had an intramural basketball team. She and another teacher bought green corduroy to make uniforms for the cheerleaders, she said.

Karen Needham, a relative newcomer to the teaching staff, is one of several faculty members who attended Ivy Drive as a child.

``Walking through the halls as an adult was very strange,'' said Needham, a second-grade teacher in her sixth year. ``Now I'm finding some of the kids I went to school with; I'm getting their children in my class.''

The anniversary celebration runs from 1 to 2:30 p.m., with a special ceremony at 1:30 p.m., followed by the Run For the Ivy from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. That event includes a 2-mile run, 1-mile walk and a relay.